36.1 F
Naperville
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Naperville Gardener – Armchair gardening

-

Krueger_webFebruary is a good month for “armchair gardening.” We can learn a lot from the gardening catalogues that seem to arrive daily.

In addition, I have two books that I’d like to recommend to you. Kent gave me “Taming Wildflowers” by Miriam Goldberger for my birthday. She gardens in Canada, so anything she grows should do well in our gardens, too. Many gardens today combine native plants and wildflowers with the usual annuals and hybrid plants. I’m trying to blend more native plants in with my existing plants.

A book I bought recently is “Plant This Instead!” by Troy B. Marden. He gardens in Tennessee, but most of the plants- perennials, trees, shrubs, vines and groundcovers will thrive in our zone 5. Troy also discusses annuals. The Japanese anemone, Anemone x hybrid, is one of my favorite plants, but some of its cultivars can be invasive. He recommends the dwarf forms of the Pretty Lady Series that have sturdy stems that remain upright even in the rain. Another one to look for is the Wild Swan™ Anemone that bears white flowers from June to October, making it one of the longest blooming anemones. You will find other good suggestions throughout this book.

The Growing Place, our local nursery, is a great source of ideas and inspiration. Their 2015 catalog will be coming out in March and is a wealth of information. Check out their website www.thegrowingplace.com for classes being offered in February and March and their online plant guide. All of these will help me be well prepared to shop and plant when spring comes.

My project this year is to plant an area where a shrub is going to be removed. It’s next to the driveway and walk to the front door. It is the same as the shrubs around the crab apple in front of our house, but has decided to grow really big.

Since I have to trim it so Kent can get his car in the garage and friends and the UPS guy can stay on the walk, it now looks like a giant ball—not spiky like its siblings. So out it goes.

I’m considering putting in an herb garden there, that if bordered by white alyssum and dwarf white snapdragons like the rest of the front landscape, should be pretty and useful. At least that’s my thought for now.
What are you planning?

Stay Connected!

Get the latest local headlines delivered to your inbox each morning.
SUBSCRIBE
- Advertisement -
PN Ombudsman
PN Ombudsman
An ombudsman is Scandinavian in origin dating back to Viking times; and refers to a community representative; usually acting independently on behalf of an organization, body of elected officials, or civic group. Thanks Scandinavia for inventing ombudsman.

LATEST NEWS

DON’T MISS OUT!
GET THE DAILY
SQUARE-SCOOP
The latest local headlines delivered
to your inbox each morning.
SUBSCRIBE
Give it a try, you can unsubscribe anytime.
close-link

Stay Connected!

Get the latest local headlines delivered to your inbox each morning.
SUBSCRIBE
close-link